Saturday morning, America conducted strikes on Venezuela, with American Special Forces conducting a successful operation within Caracas to kidnap Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Maduro and Flores were then brought to the US, where they are now in custody in a New York prison. I can’t even begin to describe how bizarre, illegal, unprecedented and demented this whole thing was and is. Yesterday was their arraignment before a 92-year-old judge.
The sound of clanking leg shackles could be heard moments before Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro walked into the door of a New York City courtroom for the first time. He then told packed rows of reporters and the public that he had just been “kidnapped”. Minutes after his entrance, the Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked Maduro to confirm his identity so the proceedings could start.
“I am, sir, Nicolás Maduro. I am president of the Republic of Venezuela and I am here kidnapped since January 3rd,” he told the court in a calm Spanish before an interpreter translated for the court. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela.”
The 92-year-old judge quickly interjected to tell Maduro that there would be a “time and a place to get into all of this”.
During the dramatic 40-minute arraignment on Monday afternoon, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty to drugs and weapon charges.
“I’m innocent. I’m a decent man,” Maduro said, with Flores adding that she was “completely innocent”.
The 63-year-old and his wife were transferred to a New York jail after they were arrested by US forces at their compound in Venezuela on Saturday, as part of a surprise overnight operation that also saw strikes on military bases. Dressed in blue and orange jail shirts and khaki pants, the two wore headphones to listen to a Spanish translation during the hearing, an attorney sitting between them. Maduro took meticulous notes on a yellow legal pad that he asked a judge to confirm that he could keep with him after the hearing.
When Maduro walked into the room – the same federal courtroom where Sean “Diddy” Combs was tried and convicted just months earlier – he turned around to nod at several members of the audience and greet them. He maintained this calm and expressionless demeanour during the proceedings, even at the end, when a man watching from the public area suddenly shouted that Maduro would “pay” for his crimes.
“I’m a president and prisoner of war,” he shouted towards the man in the audience in Spanish. The man was then escorted out of the room in tears.
Apparently, Flores was injured in the weekend raid and it’s not clear that she has been given proper medical care. The American authorities are too busy dressing Maduro up in new ensembles and posing him for photoshoots. It’s like Luigi Mangione all over again – remember how they kept making him pose for photos? Speaking of, Mangione and Maduro are now in the same facility. Bonkers.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump gave an interview to NBC and he made some absolutely ridiculous statements. He said that the American government would likely subsidize oil companies’ efforts to rebuild Venezuelan oil production/refinery. Trump also said that he does not support immediate elections in Venezuela, that America must help “fix the country.” He threatened to strike the country again if Maduro’s successor, VP Delcy Rodriguez, fails to comply with American demands. Trump is also making JD Vance his point man on Venezuela. Oh no.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- New York, NY Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores arrive in NYC where they will face narco-terrorism charges. The pair were transported into the city amid a massive police presence hours after their capture during a daring U.S. military operation in Caracas. Pictured: Nicolas Maduro BACKGRID USA 3 JANUARY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: HZ / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores arrive in NYC where they will face narco-terrorism charges. The pair were transported into the city amid a massive police presence hours after their capture during a daring U.S. military operation in Caracas. Pictured: Nicolas Maduro BACKGRID USA 3 JANUARY 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: HZ / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- United States President Donald J Trump returns to the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Sunday, January 4, 2026. Featuring: Donald J Trump Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 04 Jan 2026 Credit: Aaron Schwartz/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- United States President Donald J Trump returns to the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Sunday, January 4, 2026. Featuring: Donald J Trump Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 04 Jan 2026 Credit: Aaron Schwartz/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
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- Ousted President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, second right, and his wife, Cilia Flores, second left, arrive at the Wall Street Heliport in the New York City borough of Manhattan, NY, to be transported to appear in a New York court on Monday, January 5, 2026. They are to be arraigned as part of a Narco-Terrorism indictment against them by the United States Government. Featuring: Ousted President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores Where: Manhattan, New York, United States When: 05 Jan 2026 Credit: Kyle Mazza/CNP/INSTARimages
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- Ousted President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela [and his wife, Cilia Flores] arrive at the Wall Street Heliport in the New York City borough of Manhattan, NY, to be transported to appear in a New York court on Monday, January 5, 2026. They are to be arraigned as part of a Narco-Terrorism indictment against them by the United States Government Featuring: Ousted President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores Where: Manhattan, New York, United States When: 05 Jan 2026 Credit: Kyle Mazza/CNP/INSTARimages
Something tells me they didn’t think this thing through.
…yeah, VP Rodriguez had best start shopping around for asylum now, because Trump is going to keep moving the goalposts and making irrational demands and just flat out lying to make it all but impossible for her to comply. They will absolutely go after her no matter what, and won’t be satisfied with anything less than a US-controlled puppet regime.
This is going to be an epic sh*t show.
America has never been an honest player…and it’s only getting worse.
We all have a role to play in resisting this slide into tyranny.
I’ve written to my PM on these issues and will continue to do so. Our conservative leaders and imitating trump on some level…I let them know I see it and it’s pathetic.
Thank you, Janet. Too many people just stick their head in the sand because it hasn’t affected them personally. It’s something that happens to someone else, “others.” They don’t realize that’s part of the plan. Lull people into a false sense of security. Then by the time they realize it WILL affect them, it’s too late. The damage is already done.
Ya gotta have a brain to think things through. All the rich magats worry about is acquiring more money through any means, how to easily manipulate Evangelical/incel magats and Epstein Island-type debauchery. All the Evangelical/incel magats think that it is now okay to punch down at disabled people, poc, women and the LGBT community. They don’t care if they are worse off because they get to bully people. I am sick of this timeline. A 92 year old judge…. F#ck. Old men refusing to step aside and let the younger generations have a place at the table is the cause of this hellscape. Weird he ended up in New York and not a dark red state that fully supports this lunacy. I just assumed he would end up in Florida. Gutting the DOJ may bite them because the left behind sycophants are stupid.
Before everyone gets up in arms and starts throwing fits, just do me a favor and reach out to people you may know who left Venezuela and still have family there. They are not condemning this action, but actually praising it and showing relief that this man, who has been robbing, killing and ruining this country is finally being brought to justice. I have several people in my life who don’t give 10 cares about the oil..They just want people who are not Venezuelan, didn’t live through this, who didn’t bury friends, who didn’t flee the country to just shut up, listen, and show some respect. And that last sentence was an indirect quote.
I see your point, however this has been a huge scr@% you to international laws, which have kept the world relatively peaceful after the Second World War.
If we legitimate this kind of behaviour Putin is allowed to invade Ukraine, because he wants to. And Trump invading Greenland because US “needs it” .
That may be so but the United States had absolutely no reason to do what was done. There are plenty of things Trump could be charged with but you MAGAts would lose your ever loving minds if any country came in, kidnapped the orange turd and his immigrant wife, put them on trial and try to run our country.
That makes sense and of course he was a horrible authoritarian nightmare but how this was done again opens the door to any country disrespecting international law and it was done to steal oil and it was the extreme poverty caused by Exxon in the 90’s that led to Chavez which led to Maduro. A US oil extracting regime take over will not be any better for the people of Venezuala. I mean the relief that Maduro is gone must be great but the result.. well if it involves the orange menace and oil companies once again it won’t be any better.
Anyone who thinks that capturing and trying Maduro in this way will benefit the people of Venezuela has not been paying attention to Trump. If Maduro is convicted in a show trial, Trump may pardon him and send him back to Venezuela. In any case, he has not been dealing with the legitimate opposition to Maduro but his own vice president who, by all accounts, is as nasty as he is. Venezuelans should be careful what they wish for when it comes to Trump who is a liar, a conman, a malignant narcissist, and an authoritarian nightmare looking for a place to happen.
The problem is, Trump and his cronies are not interested in maintaining stability for Venezuelans. None of this was properly thought out or executed, and the US has quite a history of botching reconstructions and abandoning people we claim to have liberated (at home and abroad). No one’s begrudging Venezuelans their relief at being rid of Maduro, but at the same time, it feels wrong to give them false hope that they’ll somehow be the exception.
I spent yesterday consoling friends from Venezuela. At first, they were elated that Maduro was gone and maybe they could go back but after 2 days of hearing Machado and Gonzalez being ignored or put down, 2 days of Rodriguez, who they consider no better than Maduro, being propped up, 2 days of “oil, oil, oil,” their joy has turned to fear.
Now they can just worry about Stephen Miller deporting them back to the same conditions they escaped. I think that’s part of the rationale for this. They wanted a government in place to accept deportations.
You know what? I’m old enough to remember Iraqis celebrating and literally dancing in the streets when Saddam Hussein was captured in 2003.
I think we all know how that ended.
I *also* remember Libyans celebrating Gaddafi’s death in 2011 and I think we can all agree that our actions in Syria were, in hindsight, catastrophic for the country and it’s people.
It never ceases to amaze me how short people’s memories are. Like, THERE IS PRECEDENCE FOR THIS. We know how American internationalism ends: destabilization of the targeted region, extraction of resources, mass migration and the willful imposition of unwanted foreign influence to benefit our own ends. This is no different except that he’s not even bothering to manufacture consent. He’s just straight-up telling the world that we extracted a foreign leader and replaced him with a member of the SAME ADMINISTRATION with the threat that she must be more pliable and amenable to American oil companies extracting oil from Venezuela or she will face the consequences.
Maybe Venezuelans should look at our history and realize their celebrations are a tad premature.
* that should say American INTERVENTIONALISM
@Kitten 🎯
Nobody is saying that it isn’t good that Maduro is out of power. But American occupation is not liberation. What’s right and needed here is for the Venezuelan people to decide the future of their country—and if you think Trump will allow that, I have a real nice bridge to sell you.
The US has used the CIA to help rebels to topple governments; often they put someone the US can “control” (and many times turns out to be just as bad as the toppled regime). US and international law do not allow for the US to unilaterally decide to just invade another country, kidnap it’s leader and then decide we get to control the country as we see fit until/unless we decide that the people of that country can have an election to form their own government.
Nobody is saying Maduro is a good guy, the regime needs/needed to be replaced but that should be handled by Venezuelans who should be allowed to elect someone in a free and fair election. It should not have been handled via a unilateral action taken by POTUS with the advice and consent of US oil companies with the purposes of the US essentially stealing Venezuela’s resources, let alone doing so in a way that POTUS will assuredly profit personally. In doing so, the US has made it clear that this administration’s constant threats to invade other countries to claim whatever Trump wants of that country as his own are actually plans
Sure…ask Iraqis how US occupation went for them? Everyone is elated when one big action happens that seems to be the key to prosperity…but state building is hard and America has never been in the business of state building…even less so now considering the administration is doing everything they can to DESTROY the country. Infrastructure and billions for ME not for thee!
I’m tired of people celebrating their own demise. The Tea Party, QAnon, Trump MAGAT supporters, Latinos for Trump, Blacks for Trump, Farmers for Trump, Veterans for Trump…the list goes on and on. Will no one stop to think that Trump is for NO ONE besides himself?
We all understand Maduro was no good, and did horrible things.
But 1) that’s not even the argument the US is using to justify his kidnapping (just drugs and some ancient gun charge); and
2) more importantly, all that’s happened is the people of Venezuela just had one dictator replaced with another.
What do those people saying “shut up and show us respect” (per your phrasing) think will improve about the situation when oil tycoons are running the country?
The US has no interest in fixing the problems Madura left – and as many pointed out, his corrupt system actually works for the US’s purposes, so all those terrible things Madura did? They won’t stop. Sadly, the people of Venezuela’s nightmare is nowhere near over.
The only thing accomplished by this is the deterioration of international peace & human rights norms and the further justification for any corrupt nation powerful enough to seize whatever – leaders, land, resources, etc. – they want.
Nothing good has been accomplished here. The nightmare Venezuelans have been living is far from over, and it might even get worse.
Respect for what?
Your Venezuelan friends and the Venezuelan-American community which voted for Trump are deluding themselves that Trump will do anything to benefit the Venezuelan people.
Venezuela shouldn’t be our problem, nor should our tax $$ go to rebuilding their infrastructure so Exxon can make billions that 99.99% of Americans will never see. Our country is devolving into our own dictatorship while those who came here to came here to make $$$ and don’t really care about our constitution, separation of powers, checks and balances, are dancing in the streets. They will take advantage of our freedoms while trying to turn our country into the same hell they left. It is BS. When trump sends them back, naturalized or not, they might wake up. Probably not though.
As someone from South America I’m glad this happened and so are the people from Venezuela. It may not have been done correctly but I stand with the suffering people of Venezuela that they are finally free and and those that had to flee this regime can finally come home
Is it freedom thought?
Yes, I’m sure they will be self-deporting themselves soon. Just in time for all those oilfields to come online and provide the wealth to Trump and his oil company cronies.
I always find it fascinating how people in a country will blame anyone other than who caused the problem. It was like the Latinos blaming black people for not protesting instead of the people who cause them to have to protest. It’s the same thing with Venezuela that I observe, they were cut off from medicine by external ‘powers’ (many in the country died as a result, just like many died from USAID being abruptly stopped), Venezuela was subjected to crippling sanctions and yet those that left blamed their government.
For what I understand for those who are part of the revolution and have that undying flame, it that the governments of the revolutions were trying to preserve their natural resources for them and future generation and not give up access to the elite minority and external ‘powers…
He is bound and determined to get us into WW III, then claim he resolved it, all while enriching himself and the other oligarchs. And Congress an the SC are enabling him all the way.
Oh, and buried in yesterday’s news was Hegseth is moving to strip Mark Kelly is his military honors and pension because he dared speak factually about soldiers being required to follow the law and Constitution.
The gall of the man! Mark Kelly is 1000x the man hegseth even THINKS he is!
This action is not unprecedented. The US invaded Panama in the 80s to arrest the President on drug charges as well.
Also illegal and with no noticeable effect on the drug trade. And GHW Bush was soundly defeated for reelection.
This is a great way to distract from
The Epstein files. I hope Americans keep pressing for justice for those girls.
Venezuela has already sworn in a new president so what is the orange turd gonna do now…he gonna invade and remove her because she was “improperly installed”? (much like most of his legal team)
I graduated in international law and this is devastating. The US was basically behind the creation of the UN system and the UN charter. This system has its flaws, but it is what we have. If the (still) leading nation of the West says that international law is irrelevant, then why should anyone else comply with it? I am so disappointed also by democrats and by Western leaders. Almost no one, besides Bernie Sanders, spoke out clearly condemning this as a breach of international law. They condemned it maybe for other reasons, but almost no one made that point. Marjorie Taylor Greene did …… of all people. The German chancellor said, it is complicated they have to assess it. No this is not complicated, this is a flagrant violation of international law. Previous presidents also violated international law (Bush in Iraq, Obama in Libya) but at least they tried to pretend they were acting in accordance with it. Trump does not even pretend. And he is not called out. As others here have said: why should Putin not take over Ukraine? Why should China not take over Taiwan? They are in their sphere of influence. Trump is taking us back to the rule of the strongest pre WWII. And is only being called out by some media and that’s it. Shameful. Oh and sorry for Thread jacking but Kaiser will you post about Tim Walz stepping back from his re-election campaign? And the Mark Kelly thing? Crazy times!
Meanwhile the Tr*mp administration has just cut off $10B in child care funding to Democratically-lead states, and is now saying US tax payers should foot the bill for private oil companies to redevelop Venezuela’s oil industry. As we say in NYC, are you f*cking kidding me? Please write your reps in every level of government. Don’t let them think the public is indifferent to all this insanity.
Yes! We tax payers are going to have to pay to redevelop VENEZUELA’s oil industry? What the ever lovin’ f*ck???!?!?!?!? How many generations have we just screwed to pay for this?
This whole scenario is frightening. It’s too much like Wag the Dog, the movie where a war was started to distract the public from negative news about the president. Hello war in Venezuela, goodbye Epstein files,
I’m not Venezuelan but I do know people who had to leave the country years ago because of Chavez. My instinct is to take my cues from them.
I don’t have an issue with the exercise itself. Maduro refused to cede power (sounds familiar, I know) and the people have no way of ousting him. It was a precise extraction of a dictator, with no US or civilian casualties from what I’ve heard. In and out. It shouldn’t have come to that but I can’t be sorry they got him. He’s a POS.
What concerns me is what comes next. I hope this leads to better things for them but it sounds like the road will be long and right now is very uncertain. I don’t trust Trump’s motives. But just because he’s a POS too doesn’t mean getting Maduro is a bad thing.
I wouldn’t take any cues from them. Check on the same Venezuelans cheering in the US when it comes time to self-deport back to their country, since Maduro is no longer in power. That’s what the Trump administration has already suggested. So their saviour wants them to go home ASAP. Will they do as asked? I doubt they will be keen on rebuilding their country when this one is/was working for them.
But ICE will turn up the heat on them if they don’t leave on their own. Will they cheer for Trump’s actions then?
And had trump been successful five years ago (today!), would everybody be applauding had some other country kidnapped him & Melania? I know, I know, lots of us would love that! BUT, no, MAGA wing nuts would have been losing their sh*t over that. We all would have.
Like @Kitten said, people’s
short memory amazes me. I remember vividly “Operation Iraqui Freedom”, the lies about weapons of mass destruction and the initial joy of the people there. Any foreign intervention made by the US is not going to make anyone’s lives better. History has shown that. Trump has made even american lives are worse. Even for the people who voted for him!
Motherfucking madman. Now he’s ready to go to war with Greenland for their minerals. So Denmark and all the other NATO countries are supposed to fight the rogue country (the U.S.) or else NATO falls apart. He is disassembling the world as we know it piece by piece. And he is unstoppable because no one will stop him–sort of like Hitler in the early years.
He will provoke a third world war just to divert attention from the Epstein files. And, of course, to divide up the world’s mineral resources, land and wealth between Putin and himself. Folks, if you haven’t stood up yet, do it now. Do everything legally possible to stop this madman and all these far-right sects worldwide. And there is still a lot that can be done legally.